P. Karthikeyan and Tania Sachdev are the Commonwealth Champion 2018

by Sagar Shah - 05/07/2018

It was an exciting final day at the Commonwealth Championships 2018. At the end of penultimate round we had four leaders with a score of 6.5/8. P. Karthikeyan was the only one who won his game. With 7.5/9, he became the Commonwealth Champion. Tania Sachdev scored 6.0/9 and took the women's title. Including all the age group medals and senior medals, there were 51 at stake. India won 47 medals. One gold went to Sri Lanka for under-16, One gold to Bangladesh for under-8 and one gold and a bronze to South Africa and Bangladesh in the seniors section. ChessBase India brings you the entire coverage of the last day of Commonwealth 2018.

As the last day began, 51 Commonwealth medals were at stake. Who would go back with them was the question? | Photo: Amruta Mokal

The final round begins with the most important clash on top two boards | Photo: Amruta Mokal

GM Lalith Babu, GM Debashis Das, IM G. Akash and IM P. Karthikeyan started the last round with a score of 6.5/8. On the top board the game between Lalith and Debashis ended in a draw. It was now in the hands of Karthikeyan to win. He played a fine game from the black side of the Sicilian Najdorf and scored the win. With 7.5/9 he became the Commonwealth Champion 2018.

It can be said that Karthikeyan was a tad lucky with the pairing. He was 4.5/6 and one point behind the leaders at that point. However, he zoomed ahead in the last three rounds beating three IMs - Watu Kobese, S. Nitin and G. Akash. I would say that last two - Nitin and Akash were in great form in the tournament and had beaten many GMs. To outplay them with ease, showed that Karthikeyan was the deserving champion. After the event we spoke to Karthikeyan about how he felt, "What I understood recently is that these GM norms, rating, titles will spoil your game. It is for commercial purposes only. If you improve your game, everything will follow." Karthikeyan practised calmness and meditation before tournament. At the start of every game you could see him with his eyes closed trying to focus and meditate. "I practised calmness before the tournament and that is the reason why I am still in the zone, it seems. If you would have interviewed me tomorrow, perhaps I would be more excited!", says Karthikeyan.

Karthikeyan's usual pose at the start of the round, and sometimes even in between the rounds! | Photo: Sagar Shah

It comes as no surprise that which such a calm and clear head, Karthikeyan is able to calculate much better. Here's a position from his game against South African IM Watu Kobese.

Watu Kobese has just moved his king to h8. White to play. What did Karthikeyan do here? Check the answer in the video below:

Interview with the Commonwealth Champion 2018 - P. Karthikeyan

The women's section was keenly contested as well. It was not a separate event. The top three finishers in the open section would win the gold, silver and bronze medals. Tania Sachdev won the gold, M. Mahalakshmi - silver (the only one to win two medals. Open and under-20) and Kiran Manisha Mohanty went back home with the bronze!
| Photo: Amruta Mokal

After her first round loss to V.S. Negi Tania recovered admirably and finished with 6.0/9 to take home the gold. For Sachdev this was the second consecutive Commonwealth title. Adding to her growing list of achievements, Tania was extremely pleased with the trophy. "This is a beautiful trophy and it is going with me to the bed tonight!"

The organizers designed these trophies splendidly
| Photo: Amruta Mokal

Interview with the women's Commonwealth Champion - Tania Sachdev

What better way to celebrate your success! Tania's family - her husband Viraj Kataria (right), brother in law and mother in law
| Photo: Amruta Mokal

The winner of best senior was Andrey Southey, second place went to Wazeer Ahmad and third was won by Rani Hamid
| Photo: Amruta Mokal

Jubin Jimmy is one boy who requires a special mention for his performance in this tournament. He is just 12 years old and had a rating of 1950 just a month ago. At the Kolkata GM Open 2018 he gained 150 Elo points and now once again at the Commonwealth open section he gained another 162 Elo points. This has propelled his Elo to nearly 2270! Analyzing a few things with this young boy I have realized that he has a great tactical feel. His positional decisions may not be the best, but tactically he is very sharp and takes every little advantage of his opponent's inaccuracies. Most of the times he cannot explain his moves, but that's the thing about intuitive players - the feel is always more than logic. An interview with Jimmy and his father will be published very soon on the newspage.

Jubin's perfect performance!

Jubin's 10th place in the open section was met with rapturous applause by the audience!
| Photo: Amruta Mokal

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